COLLEGE PARK, Md. --
Maryland Head Coach DJ Durkin
Opening Statement:
“Great day for our program right there. It started with the Terp walk pregame. I thought we had a great fan turnout and it was a really good atmosphere for our players. I just want to thank our fans for that, there's a 10,000 seat student section and it was filled up when we ran out there for the first half. I can't say enough about them. That's something we've talked about and I've gone to speak to student organizations and everything else. That is really a part of a college football program. You can make a difference with your student section, with your fans. They certainly did that for us today, we're very thankful for that.
I'm very pleased with our guys in the way that they approached the whole game. We had a good workmanlike attitude in the hotel this morning and the walkthrough. They just had that look about them that they were ready to go and they came out and played that way. We started fast in all three phases and just really executed the game plan well. I wanted to see a team that looked excited to play, had great enthusiasm and just belief in one another. When you're playing next to a guy that you really care about and it means something to you, you play a certain way. That showed early on. There's plenty of things to clean up, get corrected and do much better but at the end of the day it was a great win for us, a great way to start. I'm really excited for our guys. To see the look on their faces in the locker room after the game, that's what it's all about.
On if his first game day as a head coach was different emotionally for him:
“Yea, it was different. It was. Usually as a coordinator on one side of the ball you don't see half the game. When the offense is out there, you don't know what's going on. You don't see any of the plays. I'm sitting there making corrections with the defense and everything. Now, I'm taking in everything with the time and the clock and everything like that. There were times when the defense was on the field and Coach (Andy) Buh was calling the game you get a little antzy because you're usually doing more when they're out on the field. It was great, I enjoyed it. We had a great staff, I thought everybody communicated really well. That's a big thing. First game a lot of times there's substitution errors or lack of communication and we really had none of that. We had a couple mishaps late in the game when we were playing a lot of reserves. When you look at the first half I think it was a really clean game. Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't remember a procedure penalty or anything pre-snap, controllable penalties that a lot of times in the first game you get. We didn't have that. That's a testament to our guys and our coaching staff being ready.”
On the strong first half defensive performance:
"It was just the mentality of coming out and playing hard and playing fast. Our guys were running to the ball really well. I'll go back and look at the tape but from the field it looked like we had some defensive linemen making tackles down field and guys running around. That's really what defense comes down to. You have a sound scheme and obviously do things to put you in a position to be successful, but if you get a bunch of guys playing hard and running to the football, you're usually going to be pretty good on defense. That's been our emphasis.
On if he was happy with the freshmen's performance:
"Yea, it was great. Get them in there, let's go. We'll continue to do that. Those guys helped us today and they're going to have to continue to help us throughout the season. You saw several of them do very well. It's all part of it. Nowadays in college football you see freshmen playing, maybe not as many as we're playing right now, but you see it. It's part of the process. We felt really strong about this recruiting class when we signed them all and now going through camp and the season, they really have lived up to it. We're going to continue to lean on those guys, put the pressure on them and have them keep playing in spots where we need them."
On what he saw from the offensive line:
"I thought they did a great job. We rushed for 315 yards. I think our backs did a great job, our depth at running back really showed. I don't care who's at running back, you don't do that without your offensive line and if you do a great job up front. We play a tempo style ballgame so for big guys that becomes different at times. They're running down the field to get to the ball just as fast as anyone else and then line up and run the next play. They did a great job of that. Hats off to those guys. They're always the unsung heroes, but they're definitely a strength of our team for sure."
On Jake Funk's performance:
"Jake showed you what he is. He's a tough guy. I don't know if you noticed watching the game or not but he was covering kickoffs for us, he was blocking guys on kickoff return and punt pressure. He played on all special teams as well as playing on offense. We didn't give him any snaps on defense today but he's ready to do that too when we need him. That's just Jake. He does such a great job of finishing runs and doing all the little things in a game that maybe isn't always notices. Picking up pressures and blitzes. That's just Jake. He doesn't say a word. Whatever he has to do he is going to do and do it really well and be totally accountable to that."
On if there was a specific reason why J.C. Jackson didn't play today and when he'll be back:
"When he'll be back I'm not sure yet, that's not a definite yet. There's an academic issue we're working through with him. We're hoping to have him back as soon as possible. He was out there with us today and he's a great member of our team. We care about him a bunch, we're working with him to get the results."
On the locker room post game:
“You look at football, add up the days of preparation and how it goes in proportion with the amount of days you have for that payoff for games, right. You're guaranteed 12, and if you do well with them, you get one or two bonus. The amount of days you work out, practice and do everything else is drastically larger. We have worked these guys really hard. I can't state that enough. This has been, and they'll tell you, the most demanding portion of their life, so when you go to the locker room afterward and you see the looks on their faces and see the complete joy of getting a win and getting a win together, that's why you coach. There's nothing better. We celebrate all victories, whether it's small victories in terms of one-on-one practice, or offensive or defense got the better of the other team at a spring practice, we celebrate all wins, all victories. Obviously today is the ultimate victory. You want one of those 12 opportunities you're guaranteed, so it was great. Pure joy in there. We sang the fight song together and that's what it's all about.”
On Lorenzo Harrison getting a lot of touches:
“We're going to play him like we did in that game and continue to do that. He's always been in the plan for us playing wise. He showed his ability. Lorenzo is a unique ball carrier because he can make you miss for sure and he can also run you over. He's been great for us. I love his demeanor and his approach. I know he's a freshman, but he doesn't have that freshman look about him at all. It's probably a hard thing to describe because some freshman have that blank stare look a little bit early on, and you have to work and get them through that. He doesn't have that. He's a very mature guy, so we're going to continue to use him. Obviously I thought he played really well. He had some really great practices all throughout camp, so we kind of knew what we were getting there, but we'll keep getting him the ball for sure.”
On using starters in special teams and if he plans to continue doing so:
“We will. We'll use our best players on all phases of special teams. Guys are going to play both offense and defense, whatever gets guys on the field and gives us the best chance to win. On that same play with the punt block, if you saw Will Likely was up rushing the punt and they overloaded the protection toward him and that freed up Ty [Johnson] on the other side and he did a great job. Once he scooped and scored, Jesse [Aniebonam] was on that play there, doing a great job for us. [Derrick] Hayward was on it and he's a starter. Those are our starters. We don't take that lightly at all. It's critically important here if you're a starter on this team.”
On what will stand out to him looking back on his first game as head coach:
“The moment is in the locker room with the guys after the win and singing the fight song. That's a great one for sure. Again, just the look on their faces, that's what you do it for. That's what it's all about.”
On his demeanor at the game today versus demeanor at games in the past:
“I really think that we make it harder on players throughout the week, and sometimes hard means that we get after them pretty good because we're trying to create an environment of adversity, of a little bit of panic in practice to where they can be subbed in to the game and will be able to go out there and execute. To me, the game, that's their day to enjoy themselves. Obviously there's times when something requires a reaction too, but for the most part, you want to let those guys go play, enjoy, and let loose and not worry. You go crazy on the preparation because you want to make sure that they're locked in on the preparation. Once the ball's kicked in on game day, it's like, 'Go out, go play hard, go play fast. Don't worry about it.' So that's a little indicative of that. Obviously they look to me for my response to things, whether it's up or down. So I think I need to keep that in mind.”
Senior Quarterback Perry Hills
On his first impressions from the game:
“The team was ready. We knew all the work we put in and were ready to play and hit someone else. Everyone had put the work in during the offseason and it was a great feeling.”
On the performance of the offense:
“Everyone did their job today, they did a great job. We have playmakers, so why not get them the ball.”
On the rushing performance:
“It's a family mentality, we know we're all going to go 100 percent. The O-line did a great job making the blocks and running backs did a great job making the cuts.”
Senior Running Back Kenneth Goins, Jr.
On Coach Durkin's first win:
“We congratulated him. It was a very special moment. For me, I have seen a few coaches come in and out so it was a special moment to see him get that first win under his belt.”
On moving forward:
“We have a lot of work to do. I don't think we played as well as we could have, so we have to keep working.”
On the performance of the offensive line:
“I think they did well. We found ways to run the ball and pass the ball we their help.”
Junior Linebacker Shane Cockerille
On his first game at linebacker:
“My body isn't too sore. Obviously it's more running around and hitting than at quarterback, but being through it all summer during camp, my body has gotten used to it.”
On the difference between games and practices:
“It was nice to finally hit somebody in a different color uniform. During the first few days of camp everyone is real happy to go out and make contact, but after that, it gets old and you want to get out and hit someone else. That's probably the biggest difference, getting to hit someone else.”
Howard Head Coach Gary Harrell
Opening Statement:
“I'm very thankful we had the opportunity to play at the University of Maryland. I think it gave us an opportunity to see where we are. We missed a lot of tackles. We were unable to have a lot of tackling this camp due to injuries, but we had to come into a game of this magnitude and go through the physicality. Now we have film and we have reps to help us go forward. Overall, the guys came out to a very slow start. We had a lot of mistakes from the quarterbacks and had a lot of missed tackles defensively. We came out in the second half and with all due respect to the University of Maryland, they played their second string guys, but our guys came out and made the plays. You see guys like Kyle Anthony -- who's a freshman -- and Jason Collins make plays, it gives us momentum coming into next week.”
On fighting back after falling behind early:
“It's tough, especially when you're playing against a Division 1 program that has depth, talent, speed and strength. You can't fall behind against any team. You want to come out and strike first. Hats off to the University of Maryland. They came out and executed and put up four or five scores and we just cannot allow that to happen. We have to get stops. We knew it was going to be a tough game. Our goal was to come in and limit their run game. If they were going to beat us today we wanted it to be in the air, but they did a good job of game-planning and sticking with their plays. Next week we need to come in and not fall behind early because it's tough. We need to come out and fight hard until the fourth quarter and give ourselves a chance to win."
On Maryland:
"They're a strong team. They're very disciplined and coached very well. They really kept us off balance and had things created off certain plays. They did a good job not going away from their identity and did a good job using Hills as a runner and using the fake action. They showed some good things today like their speed and toughness on defense. We had problems as far as running up the middle. They're very big and long so we had problems trying to get outside. They're very physical and played downhill and did a good job stopping the run downhill. They all do a good job rallying to the ball on defense and have some things on offense they can build on with the run game. They also surprised me in the passing game. I didn't think they would be able to make the plays they did in the passing game and they did a good job getting down the field."
On his message to his team with Rutgers next week:
"We just have to be who we are. I think we came out with goals but I think we just have to be a much stronger team stopping the run. I think once Rutgers watches film, they're going to come out and see if we fixed it. So we know they're going to come out and try to run the ball but we just have to get back to the basics as far as fundamentals. If we can stop the run, we can be successful."
Redshirt Sophomore Wide Receiver Jalen Avery
On their preparation for the game:
“It's definitely more serious when you come play an FBS opponent. They have more resources and we know we're the underdog coming in. We came in trying to make something happen. We didn't have a lot of film on them because of their new coach so we had to try and go off what he did at Michigan. We came in a little blind but we had to come in focused. I think the FBS is a good opportunity to show what kind of team we are."
On playing two FBS opponents to open the season:
“We were able to test ourselves against Maryland, which is a similar team to Rutgers. They're a little different with their offense but the speed and physicality are similar so we're able to look at this game and judge ourselves and go into the second game knowing what we have to do better because it isn't an easy game. We're a small school so we just have to fight hard and work and hopefully have a better outcome than this game."
On Maryland's defense:
"They're a fast team. You try to get to the outside and they're always there. They have a lot of big and physical guys who aren't afraid to put their nose into it. I think the Big Ten gets knocked down a little bit about their speed but this is a fast team. Will Likely is a really quick guy and the rest aren't just big. They're quick and can move around."
Redshirt Senior Linebacker Devin Rollins
On playing two FBS opponents to open the season:
“It's always a great experience to play against bigger schools and then carrying that momentum over into conference play. You're forced to play at a higher level and it gives you confidence coming into conference play."
On adjustments the defense made stopping the run:
“They were killing us on the counter in the first half so we shifted our line opposite of their halfback. And in the second half we blitzed more and were able to play faster."
On Maryland's offense:
"Offensively the tempo was crazy. Their next play was already set by the time we were done with the last play. Their tempo just killed us and they had a lot of depth. They had a lot of fresh bodies when we were gassed and then the tempo just kept piling on. We can't make excuses, though. We just have to play faster and without mistakes.
